Fruit on the bottom overnight oats are an easy, 5-ingredient and 10-minute prep recipe to get breakfast in the fridge for four days. Nice and thick, with plenty of fruit and a boost of protein from chia seeds.
I’m way late to the overnight oats game.
Truth is, I’ve tried them a few times and couldn’t quite get on board with the resulting texture. They were weird and watery and just not great to eat.
Turns out, I just needed to give them one more try, and add the missing ingredient: chia seeds.
These fruit on the bottom overnight oats ended up perfectly thickened, and with just enough sweetness from the fruit and maple syrup. And my favorite thing ever is that this recipe is so so so much easier than previous recipes I’ve made, with only 5 ingredients and ten minutes required to prep four portions!
Not only are overnight oats ridiculously easy to prep, and super easy to customize with different spices and extracts, but I love the fact that I can grab them right out of the fridge and eat them as is.
That’s right, these oats are served cold…to be honest I almost think they’d taste weird heated 😛
Reasons to love these fruit on the bottom overnight oats
- you can switch out the berries for whatever fruit you’d like
- add in spices (cinnamon, nutmeg would be awesome) or add different extracts (maple? vanilla?)
- they are ready in under 10 minutes and require no bowl! Make them right in your serving jars!
- they are vegan and can be easily made gluten free (just use certified GF oats)
I made these ‘fruit on the bottom’ like those fun yogurt cups I enjoyed as a kid. There’s something fun about digging to the bottom of your jar to get the yummy fruit puree and mixing it all up.
I hope you all enjoy these overnight oats as much as I have!
Tips for perfect fruit on the bottom overnight oats:
- I used 12.5 oz Weck jars
, however wide mouth pint jars would also work great - don’t skip the chia seeds, as they help thicken the oats
- swaps: berries for any other frozen fruit; maple syrup for honey; almond milk for dairy milk
- Looking for more meal prep breakfast ideas? Check out these 7 Healthy Steel Cut Oats Recipes, these Overnight Steel Cut Oats, these Healthy Breakfast Burritos with Kale & Feta, or this round-up with 28 Healthy Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas. You may also like this Chocolate Chia Pudding!
, however 
would also work greatWatch the video below to see exactly how I prepped my Fruit on the Bottom Overnight Oats. It’s so easy! You can find more of my recipe videos on my YouTube channel, or on Facebook.
Fruit on the Bottom Overnight Oats
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen fruit thawed
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 3/4 cup almond milk
Instructions
- Place thawed frozen fruit in the bottom of a jar (at least 12.5 oz; 1 pint works too). Mash with a spatula until pureed.
- Add in the following order: maple syrup, rolled oats, chia seeds, and almond milk. No need to stir, just put the lid on and place in the fridge overnight.
- Store for up to 4 days. Enjoy cold.
Nutrition
LesLi
May 20, 2019 at 9:02 amIs there something instead of chia seeds? Maybe ground flax or something?
Denise
May 27, 2019 at 10:54 amHi LesLi, I have only tried with chia seeds, but flax might work as it does help thicken things. If you try, I’d love to hear how it works out for you!
Rachel Turrisi
November 27, 2018 at 8:32 amJust made this, and it was amazing! I am always rushing to work in the morning and I just grabbed it out of my fridge to take with me! Thank you for sharing this, I think this will be my new go-to breakfast!
Denise
December 5, 2018 at 9:01 pmI’m so happy to hear it was a hit! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Rachel!
Jan Grandy
January 30, 2019 at 4:03 pmAre these ingredients for each jar or all jars?
Denise
February 4, 2019 at 9:27 pmIngredients listed are for 1 portion!
Shyela Pecorelli
June 11, 2018 at 11:39 amwhere are these jars from? thanks!
Denise
June 13, 2018 at 8:32 pmHi Shyela! They are 12.5 oz Weck jars, here’s the link: https://amzn.to/2sUjlIe
yoli hernandez
June 3, 2018 at 1:59 pmI swap out the nut milk for fat free protien milk this lowers the calories and boosts up the protien to 15g
My dietary requirements are high protein… This is my go to recipe
Denise
June 5, 2018 at 9:10 pmThat’s so awesome to hear! THank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, Yoli! 🙂
Jill Schultz
April 24, 2018 at 4:00 amI’ve made this recipe many time now. I love how easy, healthy and delicious it is. I only made one change and that is that I use fresh fruit. So far my favorite combo is raspberries and blackberries. Thanks for a great recipe, I’m so glad I tried it.
Denise
April 26, 2018 at 8:23 pmI’m so happy you like it, Jill! I will have to try with raspberries & blackberries 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Diana Arabova
January 26, 2019 at 9:22 pmHi Jill,
I would like to use fresh fruit too. Did you also mash the fresh fruit?
thanks!
Denise
January 30, 2019 at 12:52 pmYou could absolutely use fresh fruit, and just mash it up. Enjoy!
Pat
April 5, 2018 at 3:08 pmCan these be heated up?
Denise
April 9, 2018 at 4:05 pmI suppose so, although I’ve never tried. Overnight oats are usually enjoyed cold 🙂
Jessica
March 27, 2018 at 5:39 amThanks for this awesome recipe! I normally have overnight oats daily but this was next level and so simple.
Denise
March 31, 2018 at 8:48 pmSo happy you enjoyed it, Jessica!
Alia
March 19, 2018 at 9:44 amWill it work the same with quick cooking steel cut oats?
Denise
March 24, 2018 at 10:55 amGood question! I am actually just experimenting with overnight steel cut oats and they are very different than rolled oats, much chewier. I have only tried the regular steel cut oats but now I want to try instant ones! I did 1/4 cup SCO + 3/4 cup almond milk and it was too much liquid so I’d go down to 1/2 cup. Hope this helps, and I will be posting the recipe on the site soon!
Alia Shalabi
March 24, 2018 at 1:21 pmThanks so much for the reply! I didn’t know instant SCO existed till I saw them at Costco. So, yeah, I have lots to use up! I will try it tonight with the reduced liquid. Thanks, again!
Denise
March 31, 2018 at 9:01 pmUpdate on this: I tried some instant SCO as overnight oats and they were pretty terrible. Super mushy…so I don’t think they are a good option for overnight oats.
Janice
March 9, 2018 at 5:12 pmI just look good health food
Sajeda
March 4, 2018 at 7:57 amDoes the fruit have to be thawed or can we just put in frozen fruit?
Denise
March 7, 2018 at 1:16 pmYou don’t have to thaw it, but if you want to mash it up like the fruit on the bottom cups, it makes it easier when it has been frozen and then thawed. But it will still taste great with frozen fruit.
Jeannie
March 1, 2018 at 9:14 pmDoes this recipe make more than one jar?
Denise
March 2, 2018 at 5:13 pmHi Jeannie! The recipe is for one jar but I often do four at a time and have a little assembly line 🙂
sera
February 22, 2018 at 3:22 pmI don’t know why, but in reading all the recipes for overnight oats, it never occurred to me that I should eat them cold! I read that and then immediately got up and prepared a batch to try. I love them! I’ve had them every morning for breakfast for the last three days. Thanks for the recipe!
Denise
February 27, 2018 at 11:04 pmI’m so happy you enjoyed them Sera! It is a bit strange to eat cold oats but I can’t imagine it any other way for overnight oats 😀